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Elections: Fraud

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policies are in place to ensure that refugees face no barriers to assimilation within the education system.

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policies are in place to ensure that newly arrived asylum seekers placed in Home Office initial accommodation have immediate access to the education system.

the earl of courtown: Voting more than once at a General Election is a crime which carries an unlimited financial penalty. Any evidence of an individual who is suspected to have voted twice at the General Election should be reported to the Police for investigation. In addition, the presiding officer at a polling station may ask any elector if they have already voted, and may withhold a ballot paper from an elector if they do not answer the question satisfactorily. The electoral register is marked to record the issuing of ballot papers to individuals at polling stations; there are electronic records of the issuing of postal votes representing an equivalent to the marked register for some electors. These records can already assist with an investigation should any voting irregularities be suspected.There are a number of significant technical and practical barriers, as well as security and privacy concerns, relating to implementing a national electoral registration database. The Government has no plans to create such a database.

Cabinet Office

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lord palmer of childs hill: Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the instruction included on the 2016 London Mayoral election that voters should “Vote once [x] in column A for your first choice, and Vote once [x] in column B for your second choice”, whether they instructed the returning officers for (1) that election, and (2) other mayoral elections, to make it clear to voters that they must vote both for a first choice and for a second choice candidate; if so, on what basis that instruction was given; and whether they intend to review their instructions for future mayoral elections.

the earl of courtown: The Government did not issue instructions to Returning Officers for the May 2016 London Mayoral and other mayoral elections to inform voters they must vote for a first choice and second choice candidate. The instruction on the ballot paper reflects how the supplementary vote works but it is for the voter to decide who they wish to vote for and whether they want to vote for one, two or any candidates. The Government is happy to consider any additional information on how to complete a ballot paper for polls using the supplementary vote system but, as was said in our manifesto, we are keen to move to the First Past the Post system for such polls which we think will be clearer and easier for electors to use.

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lord rennard: Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen on 26 October (HL2496) and 8 November 2016 (HL2803), what progress they have made in creating an online electoral registration checking tool to assist people seeking to know whether or not they are already registered, and to reduce the number of duplicate registrations.

the earl of courtown: The Government has no plans to create an online electoral registration checking tool. Registers are held locally rather than centrally. There would be major technical, security and privacy issues around consolidating the registers to allow a live registration check, especially given that a checking tool would require an elector to prove their identity in the course of making an application. The investment costs required to overcome these barriers would significantly outweigh the cost of processing duplicates.The Government nevertheless recognises that duplicate registrations represent a burden to administrators and that this may be the case in particular at the time of major elections. We are currently examining evidence collected during the recent general election to understand the scale of this issue and to identify more practicable solutions than a checking tool. For example, there may be the potential for improvements to the online journey to reduce duplicates. It may also be possible to exploit electoral management software systems to improve duplicate processing. The Government is taking forward this work with the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Scottish Assessors Association and the Electoral Commission.At the same time, it is clear that online registration has led to a boost in registration levels. Compared to other means of increasing registration, such as the issuing of Household Notification Letters in advance of polls, online registration is highly cost efficient, even accounting for duplicate applications.

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lord rennard: Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the form of identification accompanying a postal vote should be amended to also require signed confirmation (1) that the ballot paper has been completed only by the person entitled to do so, (2) that this has been done, together with the sealing of the ballot paper in the envelope provided, in conditions of privacy, and (3) that the envelope was returned directly by that person to a Post Box, the Electoral Registration Officer/Returning Officer, or to a polling station on polling day, save only for those people requiring assistance from someone such as a carer, and as is necessary on the grounds of disability

the earl of courtown: There are already measures in place designed to safeguard the security of postal voting, including the use of personal identifiers by postal voters. Sir Eric Pickles’ review of electoral fraud, published in 2016, considered postal voting and identified a number of areas in which the existing rules around postal voting could be tightened. The Government responded to the review, addressing each of its recommendations in turn, and setting out a number of measures for tackling the risk of fraud.The Government is continuing to consider how to improve the integrity of postal voting and electoral processes in general, and will keep these matters under review.

Constituencies

lord rennard: Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the speech by the then Leader of the Conservative Party on 8 September 2009 linkingthe issue of cutting the cost of politics to the proposal to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 585, what recent estimate they have made of the annualsavings that will result from the implementation of that reduction.

lord young of cookham: The Government's manifesto re-affirms the commitment to deliver equal and updated boundaries.The current boundary review is proceeding in accordance with legislation passed in the 2010-15. The Boundary Commissions are required to submit their final reports in September 2018.It is estimated that the reduction in the number of MPs will save approximately £13.1 million each year.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

lord truscott: Her Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from the duration and cost of the Chilcot Inquiry.

baroness vere of norbiton: A number of lessons about inquiry processes were learned from the Iraq Inquiry, and government has absorbed these so that future inquiries can benefit from the experience. Government has received the report of Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Iraq Inquiry, and will be responding in due course, setting out the lessons learned.

Government Departments: Correspondence

lord jopling: Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Young of Cookham on 11 July (HLWS37), what steps they have taken to seek explanations from Ministers and Agency Chief Executives in (1) the Department for Communities and Local Government, (2) the Department for Education, (3) the Home Office, (4) HM Revenue and Customs, and (5) Ofwat, in the light of the Minister's response that they have failed to answer one third of the correspondence within the target set for replies.

baroness vere of norbiton: Government takes seriously its responsibilities for providing timely replies to correspondence from MPs and Peers. The Departments in question are committed to improving their performance on replying to correspondence from MPs and Peers and have plans in place to do so.

Social Mobility

lord bird: Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to measure the progress of the UK's development other than by the measurement of GDP per capita,as set out in the Social Progress Imperative report, Social Progress Index 2017; and what assessment they have made of the UK's ranking in that report.

the earl of courtown: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply and will place a copy of their letter in the house library.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 122 KB)

Employment: EEA Nationals

lord hain: Her Majesty's Government how many EEA nationals have been denied a job in the public sector in each ofthe last five years on the grounds that the UK has invoked the employment in the public service derogationprovided for by Article 45(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

the earl of courtown: Some sensitive posts in the Civil Service are designated as being reserved for UK nationals only. This is explained in the Civil Service Nationality Rules.In practice, an EEA or third country national who applies for a reserved post in the Civil Service will be sifted out at an early stage, as it would not be lawful to employ him or her. Therefore, there is no record of this information.Aside from this, most other public bodies do not generally rely on the derogation.

Constituencies

lord rennard: Her Majesty's Government whether they will provide for simultaneous implementation of all four Boundary Commissions’ reports as set out in the Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies Act 2011; and what assessment they have made of the case for providing for the report of the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland to be treated differently to those of the Boundary Commissions for England, Scotland and Wales.

lord young of cookham: The Government's manifesto re-affirms the commitment to deliver equal and updated boundaries.The current boundary review is proceeding in accordance with legislation passed in the 2010-15 Parliament under which the four Boundary Commissions are required to submit their final reports in September 2018. The Government will lay the report, once received, of each Boundary Commission before Parliament, and if the recommendations of the Boundary Commissions are approved by Parliament they will all take effect at the next General Election.